I've noticed that after being hauled out and perched on her trailer, water continues to trickle out of Idris's rudder for a few days. To me this doesn't seem right as clearly it's full of seawater all the time she's in the water. Not sure how to prevent water getting in as it seems to be a hollow fibreglass construction with numerous fixings to secure the brackets. Maybe its got to come off and be stripped down to be resealed but that's a whole lot of work probably to no avail. I wonder really what harm can a rudder full of water do? Will it affect the trim of the boat at all?

Doubt it would effect the trim, but it could delaminate inside if the glass is uncoated, osmosis. It is the gel coat that makes fibreglass water proof. The result could be your rudder cracking or even shearing if left in extreme cases, the job is not that hard, first drill a small hole in base of rudder and leave for a couple of weeks . Give it a sanding then using epoxy, west systems is best and some fibre matting go all over the seams. Once that is done coat the whole rudder with 2/3 coats.

Originally Posted by shoestringsailorI've noticed that after being hauled out and perched on her trailer, water continues to trickle out of Idris's rudder for a few days. To me this doesn't seem right as clearly it's full of seawater all the time she's in the water. Not sure how to prevent water getting in as it seems to be a hollow fibreglass construction with numerous fixings to secure the brackets. Maybe its got to come off and be stripped down to be resealed but that's a whole lot of work probably to no avail. I wonder really what harm can a rudder full of water do? Will it affect the trim of the boat at all?

Originally Posted by shoestringsailorI've noticed that after being hauled out and perched on her trailer, water continues to trickle out of Idris's rudder for a few days. To me this doesn't seem right as clearly it's full of seawater all the time she's in the water. Not sure how to prevent water getting in as it seems to be a hollow fibreglass construction with numerous fixings to secure the brackets. Maybe its got to come off and be stripped down to be resealed but that's a whole lot of work probably to no avail. I wonder really what harm can a rudder full of water do? Will it affect the trim of the boat at all?

I had the same problem with the Nantucket Clipper. As Bert said drill some holes to let the water out then leave to dry out as long as possible. I then injected Builder foam which is a closed cell foam. I had drilled 3 holes first about 10cm from the top one in the middle and one at the botton. I injected the foam from the top down until the water flowed out some more. The foam does expand reasonably quickly.. I left it for a few more days and the foam came out of the holes. There were no splits in the exterior as the water had seeped in via the top and bottom bearings. There was no apreciable play in the bearings so the water had got in over a long period of time.

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